In U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,960, a rose-hip concentrate having a high content of vitamin C was found to alleviate the symptoms associated with inflammation. Specifically, the concentrate was obtained in accordance with a process of drying the milled rose hip under conditions which preserved a relatively high vitamin C content as well as the content of a number of other vitamins.
In the related U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,752 the oral administration of a combination of a rose-hip concentrate and fish oil is described as being useful in the alleviation of joint pain and stiffness, particularly in relation to arthritis. The method used for producing the rose-hip concentrate is the as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,960 above.
Furthermore, WO 03/043613 relates to the use of glycosides of a mono- or diacylglycerol for treatment of inflammatory diseases, and more particularly to 3-β-D-galactopyranosyloxy-2-(octadeca-9Z,12Z,15Z-trienoyloxy) propanyloctadeca-9Z,12Z,15Z-trienoate (also known as GOPO) either obtained from natural sources such as rose hips (the fruits of Rosa canina) or prepared by total synthesis, for the treatment of inflammation. The action of this compound was shown to be alleviating chemiluminescence of polymorphonuclear monocytes and chemotaxis of mononuclear leukocytes. Moreover, it was discovered in WO 03/043613 that this compound could be obtained via an extraction, in particular an extraction using organic solvents, and a bio-guided fractionation procedure of rose-hips which was shown to contain this highly active anti-inflammatory agent. Similar to administering rose-hips orally was shown to efficiently alleviate inflammatory pains an oral formulation of the isolated anti-inflammatory agent was shown to be useful for treatment of symptoms associated with inflammation diseases.
Based on the knowledge that the activity of the glycoside of mono- or diacylglycerol compounds acts as an active ingredient capable of alleviating and treat inflammatory conditions in a mammal, it is of interest to develop improved methods for extracting and liberate said glycoside of a mono- or diacylglycerol compounds as well as developing new products comprising this active ingredient which are commercially interesting, provide a higher content of available active ingredient as well as a more safe and stable product using a more safe method.